Specialising in the treatment and care of babies with colic
Colic Advice
To understand babies with colic and be able to treat or care for them it is important to take a little time to understand their sensory, physical, emotional and intellectual needs and developmental stages. Colic is generally digestion or care based and therefore fully treatable. Our staff are trained and experienced in spotting the possible causes of colic and then successfully treating them.
Touch
Babies need gentle, guiding, confidence in a carers touch and handling. Wrapping babies up in a soft blanket (swaddling) not only makes them far easier to hold but also offers them the sense of familiarity and security of the physical boundaries they were used to within the womb.
Scent
Babies are very aware of and sensitive to strong scents, just as they can find pleasant, gentle, natural scents calming and reassuring, they can also find strong artificial ones distressing and unsettling especially chemically based perfumes and deodorants which can cause babies to suffer from headaches and nausea whereas aromatherapy can successfully help when treating many ailments naturally including colic.
Sight
Overly bright light can cause babies to become irritable, giving them headaches; this includes bright sunshine and long periods of watching TV. Different colours can also affect babies, some combinations can calm and sooth, while others excite and entertain. Visual aids can also be very helpful to you, like enlarging a favorite photo of your baby and place it in their room in a prominent position to connect to through difficult nights.
Taste
Breast feeding mothers need to be aware of the shared effects of their diet, for example, many root vegetables can cause wind pains to babies while certain herbs can help to sweeten your milk and calm your baby’s digestion. Parents often mistake their babies sign of indigestion for hunger. Spacing out feeds helps to avoid colic, allowing time for the baby to fully wind and digest. To prevent indigestion, ensure good feeds and sufficient awake/play times and sleep/rest times between feeds.
Sound
You can help to settle, calm, reassure and encourage your baby with the sound of your voice, Your verbal/audible reactions to situations teach and guide your baby in understanding your shared experiences. Babies generally love music, singing and the sounds of their family happily chatting playing and laughing around them, after being used to having the reassuring sounds of your body surrounding them in the womb, they find noise reassuring including when they are sleeping. The right music\sounds can also really help to establish a great bedtime/rest time pattern.
Mothers Intuition
Listen to your maternal instincts, if you feel there is something wrong with your baby there probably is. Try to be aware of striking a balance between listening to your baby communicating their needs and trusting your own wisdom, experience and judgment.
Setting The Mood
Never underestimate the power of positive suggestive thinking and your ability to guide your baby with your emotional, physical and mental reactions. Calm, confident, happy parents = Calm, confident, happy babies.
Final thoughts
Bring back the age - old favorites like rocking chairs, lullabies and carrying your baby around in your arms. Minimize hands free care like buggies and baby seats/swings. Gently playing clapping and stretching games with your baby after a feed and then taking them on a lovely country walk carrying them, before a little refreshing nap is a great way to help their digestion and fulfil their emotional, mental and physical needs, which in turn will help to prevent or treat colic.
FOR HELP AND ADVICE CONTACT US
Brook Cottage | Pemberton Terrace | Cambridge | CB2 1JA